Just finished SOA and TOB with a dual wielding ranger. In SOA he was using Celestial Fury and Crom Faeyr and that was going well, but the celestial fury loses its bite when getting into TOB. Heading to the Oasis and killing Jamis i found the Answerer +4 on him, i hadnt noticed the potential of this Sword before. With each hit the opponents AC is lowered by 2 and Magic Resistance is lowered by 15%. Combined with Crom Faeyr my ranger was able to cut through hordes and tougher monsters like no tomorrow. The -15% MR is very good for fighting goons with high MR as it allows my sorc (Tashia) not to waste her valuble casting time on Lower Resistance. Truth be told i didnt use Tashia's supreme magic skills much because it just made battles way to easy and my fighters redundant (Time Stop + Alacrity + 3 or so Horrid Wiltings + Dragons Breathe + Planaters etc = dead monster). What are peoples favourite dual wielding combos? Defender of East Haven + Crom Faeyr seems like a good combo that alot of people like to use, are there any other good combos?

Defender of Easthaven +3 plus Flail of Ages +5. Brutal defensively, and offensively. Best used by Barbarians, Paladins, Rangers, Clerics and various combinations of the Cleric class.

Most damaging? Most probably Crom Faeyr +5 plus Flail of Ages +5.

Yeah, I just found the Answerer too, and I'm using it a fair bit. I also found the axe that is vorpal, though I forget the name. That's what I've been dual-wielding w/ my Ranger in ToB. I even put my first proficiency in Axe to boost the thing. My problem is my bag-o-longswords has gotten out of hand. Due to the beneficial magic they impart in differing circumstances I'm still carrying around the Daystar, Dragon Sword, Equalizer, and Adjatha, though I have the Answer and the +4 Flame Sword. It's getting rather annoying ,I must say. :D I'm thinking about tossing some magic swords at the local GoodWill drop.

Gotta love Faerun - magic magic everywhere. ;)

I was thinking Defender of Easthaven +3 and crom fayer for my Fighter-cleric .. defense combined with some nice offense [img]tongue.gif[/img]

When my Half-Orc Barbarian finishes BG1 and SoA, he's gonna be weilding nothing but Foebane and the Axe of Unyielding. Combined with his 25 CON and various regeneration items, he's gonna be almost impossible to kill by physical means. Now if he could only cast Tenser's Transformation......

Why not go for near physical immunity, SixOfSpades? ;)

20% + 20% + 40% = 80% [img]smile.gif[/img]

Throw in the Ronarchs Horn and you have immunity to Crushing Damage. See that blow by Balthazar? It is healing you. ;) :D

80% physical damage resistance is not to be scoffed at. What used to deal 40 damage, now deals a piddly 8 damage. [img]tongue.gif[/img] If you factor in your Foebane... heh, heh, heh... ... ;)

What about blackrazor?

Now that is one weapon I have not heard being mentioned in a long time. ;)

"What is Blackrazor?", "Where can I find Blackrazor?", "What is the cheatcode for Blackrazor?", "Can I still remain good and get Blackrazor?"

*cough* *cough*

Anyway, Blackrazor is nice and all, but you need to be Evil to get it in the first place, and other weapon combinations can easily beat it; but there is nothing to stop a player from using it.

nope, u dont have to be evil, i just killed him and stole it "But isnt that evil and all that?" No! The guy where living in the lands near hell. He have to have done something?

Hm, isnt the blackrazor a _really_ gr8 sword? What combinations can beat it?

The Answerer +4 and the Blackrazor...

With every hit it has a 15% chance of draining 4 levels, healing the wielder by 20 hit points, and hasting him for 20 seconds as well as increasing his strength by 3 points for 20 seconds. Each hit lowers opponents' Magic Resistance by 15% , Each hit applies a penalty of -2 to opponents' AC.

When the haste is kicking in, the enemy is dead, period.

So, lets see. Im abit lucky, and drains 4 levels, im hasted, im healed, and i got a kick-ass stength. Now my swords are flying around, draining levels, lowering the ac alot, and they dont got no magic resistance at all.

Scenario: Im attacking a lethal dude, (ac-17, 75% MR, level 20), after a few seconds he got ac 0, level 10, no magic resistance. Ill think i'll send in a commoner to kill him.

Favorite dual wield combo?
Celestial Fury and Dakkon Zerth Blade with my Anti Paladin/Mage (Anti Paladin is a kit that comes with the Valen mod - basically an evil Inquisitor).
I think you people underestimate Fury.
It's AMAZING. Really. Almost NOTHING in the game is immune to stun.
With a high Attack per Round rate and a Greater Malison tossed in, it's the best disabling effect in the game.
That's only my favorite, though. I just adore Katanas and Fighter/Mages types.
There are more powerful combos, but hey, we all play BG2 for fun, right? [img]smile.gif[/img]
And the game is too easy as it is, after several times through.

The most powerful combo, on the other hand, is, IMO Flail of Ages +5 and Belm +2.
Dundee already proved that one could get 24 STR naturally, so if we're after damage per round here, i have a feeling that the extra attack is worth it.
If not, than it Ages +5 and Crom.
Nothing beats Ages +5. The slow effect is just too mean... :rolleyes: :D

I've realized that the bonuses that come along with the 25 strength you get for wielding Crom Faeyr are not comparable to other +5 Weapons in ToB. It sure is nice to have it in SoA, but there are just too many other good weapons in Tob. Most noteably the Runehammer, man it would have been great to go into Bodhi's lair with that thing.

The genie tells you that he has been captured and brought to Hell to serve as your test, meaning you CANNOT assume he is/was evil.

There is no way to get Blackrazor without being Evil--although I did find a way to get it and still get the results of taking the Good path. I do not think this would cause an alignment change, either.

Oh, and about physical resistances: Of course, he's going to be pushing along that path as well, but I want to see just how fast I can regenerate with
25 CON + Ring of Gaxx + Ring of Regeneration + Axe of Unyielding + Foebane.
It would be SO cool to walk up to Abazigal, with him whaling away at me as hard as he can, and I just go, "Yeah? AND?"

[ 10-28-2002, 06:18 PM: Message edited by: SixOfSpades ]

The genie tells you that he has been captured and brought to Hell to serve as your test, meaning you CANNOT assume he is/was evil.

There is no way to get Blackrazor without being Evil--although I did find a way to get it and still get the results of taking the Good path. I do not think this would cause an alignment change, either.

Oh, and about physical resistances: Of course, he's going to be pushing along that path as well, but I want to see just how fast I can regenerate with
25 CON + Ring of Gaxx + Ring of Regeneration + Axe of Unyielding + Foebane.
It would be SO cool to walk up to Abazigal, with him whaling away at me as hard as he can, and I just go, "Yeah? AND?"</font>[/QUOTE]Tsk, tsk...

Pickpocket him! If you get the Tear of Bhaal from him that way, you get to keep Blackrazor no matter what!

As for dual-weapons, either Crom Faeyr + Axe of the Unyielding + Gauntlets of Dexterity means 25, 18, 20 for a half-orc or dwarf, or Purifier and Angurvadal for a Paladin.

Tried the Spectral Brand +5 and Crom Faeyr out for a while aswell. The spectral brand did good dmg but i doesnt have any great combat abilities so it is inferior to other combos. Negative plane protection is all good and well but if you have a cleric or David Gaider's extra abilities theres no point to it. Summoning a spectral blade is also pointless when you have a mage with mordy sword or anyone with high level summons.

btw Shouldnt the Spectral Brand be unusable by Good Aligned chars as it is an "Instrument of unholy death that should never have been unleashed upon the Realms." ?

Allow me to rephrase,

You WILL become evil if you choose to accept Blackrazor unless you exploit a bug( which I think has been fixed by the Baldurdash Fixpack).

Alson, there is no point using Belm +2 with the Flail of Ages +5. You can already reach the maximum of 5 ApR with Crom Faeyr and the Flail of Ages +5.

Two Weapon Style: 2 ApR
Warrior Bonuses: 3 ApR
Grandmastery Patch: 4.5 ApR
Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialisation: 5 ApR

Crom faeyr+Flail of ages +5 (twitch and drool)
Hindo's Doom+Anguewdyvl (leaves the belt-space free for the girdle of inertial barrier)
(The hammer Yaga drops) + Short sword of mask [img]smile.gif[/img]

Another little thing: Abazigal, fighter/mage time stop, crom fayr and FOA+5....MUAHAHAHAHAHA! [img]graemlins/firedevil.gif[/img] it was a trick perfected with Solaufein over improved irenicus this morning for me....

LOL, sorry coudlnt resist this... a MONK with TWO fists [img]tongue.gif[/img] and a foot or two ;)

A one-footed monk? :eek: I wouldn't like to hop everywhere and it must be a bugger to manage those flying drop-kicks [img]tongue.gif[/img]

*snigger* actually I meant that you only see em use one foot in attack... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Most people, mostly new players (who like to read threads like this) don't play with the GrandMastery patch (for the record, i DO play with it).
And wielding Belm will give be the privilege to give the Gauntlets to other party members. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Crom Faeyr +5 and the Flail of Ages +5:
--------

CF+5: 2d4 + 3, +5 electrical damage
FoA+5: 1d6 +6, +10 elemental damage
25 STR: +14 dmg
GoES: +2 dmg
*****: +3 dmg

You will get 4 ApR.

Base ApR: 1
Warrior Bonuses: 2
Dual-Wield: 3
*****: 3.5
GoES: 4

Let us work out 3 rounds of attacks, assume that they all hit, and assume that there are no critical hits.

3 rounds means 12 attacks. 2/3 of those will be from the main-hand weapon which I will assume to be the FoA+5, so the FoA+5 strikes for 8 times, while CF+5 strikes for 4 times. I will take the value of the average damage.

(((1+6)/2)+6+10+14+2+3)*8 = 308, FoA+5
(((2+8)/2)+3+5+14+2+3)*4 = 128, CF+5

Total = 308 + 128 = 436
_______

Flail of Ages +5 and Belm +2
--------

FoA+5: 1d6 +6, +10 elemental damage
Belm+2: 1d8 +2
24 STR: +12 dmg( you need to be an evil Half-Orc Fighter, base 19 STR, +3 from the Nine Hells, +1 from TMoLTM, +1 from TDoMT. In short, I am being very generous here. [img]tongue.gif[/img] )
GoES: +2 dmg
*****: +3 dmg

You will get 5 ApR.

Base ApR: 1
Warrior Bonuses: 2
Dual-Wield: 3
Belm+2: 4
*****: 4.5
GoES: 5, altenatively the Boots of Speed, but we want to maximise our damage here.

Let us work out 3 rounds of attacks, assume that they all hit, and assume that there are no critical hits.

3 rounds means 15 attacks. 2/3 of those will be from the main-hand weapon which I will assume to be the FoA+5, so the FoA+5 strikes for 10 times, while Belm+2 strikes for 5 times. I will take the value of the average damage.

(((1+6)/2)+6+10+12+2+3)*10 = 365, FoA+5
(((1+8)/2)+2+12+2+3)*5 = 117.5, Belm+2

Total = 365 + 117.5 = 482.5

Total(STR:22) = 345 + 107.5 = 452.5

Total(STR:25) = 512.5

Interesting. Without the Grandmastery Patch, FoA+5 and the Belm+2 will beat FoA+5 and CF+5 on all counts.

+1 from TMoLTM, +1 from TDoMT

Its late, so this may be obvious, and I'm just being stupid. But what do these stand for?

TMoLTM - The Machine of Lum The Mad. I cant think of what TDoMT stands for.

the deck of many things

Impressive analysis, Dundee! Well done! [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]
Just a few things:

Why 2/3?
The off hand weapon strikes once per round. Thus, the FoA+5 will strike 3 times a round, which means 9 strikes in 3 rounds.
So the FoA+5 will actually be 3/4 (= 9/12) out of all the attacks.

Again, why 2/3?
The Belm's extra attack goes to the FoA+5, so the FoA+5 will strike 4 times a round. 4 attack per round means 12 attacks in 3 rounds.
So the FoA+5 will actually be 4/5 (= 12/15) out of all the attacks.
That would mean different results.
Do you mind doing the calculations again?
If i'm getting it right, this makes FoA+5 and Belm even more superior to FoA+5 and CF+5, because the FoA strikes more times. [img]smile.gif[/img]

The off-hand weapon strikes once for every two strikes from the main-hand weapon. This is easily observable with a Blade using the Melf's Minute Exploit combined with Offensive Spin which grants the Blade 6 attacks per round. Just nice to see 4 strikes by the MMM, and 2 strikes from the off-hand weapon.

For another example, equip a weapon with elemental damage in the off-hand, and a pure physical damage in the main-hand. Use that party member to Whirlwind on another party member that has no equipment( to prevent missing). You will observe 3 strikes from the off-hand weapon.

Trivia fact of the day. Whirlwind only lands 9 hits most of the time, not 10.

Really? I was sure it was the other way!
Oh well...

As always, you are a great source of information, Dundee. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Thanks.

This is for my CG Elven Swashbuckler......
Blade of Roses +3 Right Hand
The Equiliser Off Hand

The Blade of Roses is sort of an essential for me, because it is a +3, which means it can strike most things. Also, the CHR bonus is essential!!

However, I might try.......

Blade of Roses +3 Right Hand
Celestial Fury +3 Off Hand

:D :D Yeah!

So why not just stick the Blade of Roses in your off hand?
You'll still get the Charisma bonus, and your main hand weapon will be much better! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Oh, and I suggest Celestial Fury. Anytime. ;)

I have fond memories of the Blade of Roses. [img]smile.gif[/img] When my Assassin laid her hands on it, I could feel the power of things to come. No more backstabbing with a Long Sword +1! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

She used that sword all the way until she got the Celestial Fury. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Exactly. ;)

Shame the Sword of Balduran isnt a +3 weapon or better still +4. With the higher enchantment and +10% MR and +10% lore it would be such a lovely weapon for a back stabbing thief.

Exactly. ;) </font>[/QUOTE]Improved items mod...celestial fury+5...(and that gorgeus +4 acid katana from the solaufein mod) *twitch* :drool:

Yes, i love Celestial Fury +5!
Finally, i can use my favorite weapon all the way! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Well, I prefer as high and a low THAC0 over two mediums! ;) It's just me!

EDIT: Closed HTML Tags

[ 11-01-2002, 02:12 PM: Message edited by: DJG ]

Eh? Both the Blade of Roses and the Celestial Fury have a +3 THACO bonus. Switching them will not affect the THACO in either hand.

I think he's talking bout the Improved Item Mod Celestial Fury +5, Dundee.

[ 11-02-2002, 12:47 PM: Message edited by: True_Moose ]